Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the previous speakers. The Minister of State can realise that all of us here are fighting for the smaller shops that are finding it hard to survive. It is important that the Minister of State would meet the chief executives and local authority members. Sometimes there is a lack of information for councillors or a lack of awareness among them. It would be good for the Minister of State to send out regular letters to local authority members. These are the councillors who do the work on the ground and deliver. If the information was to come from the Minister of State and the chief executives of the councils, it would mean a lot to the councillors. They would have more information. I agree there should be more meetings with the local authority members and the chief executives of the council. All of us should work together because we have a very big problem. The smaller towns and rural towns are absolutely feeling the effect of this, and the smaller shops, cafes and businesses are fighting hard to survive. I understand that we have to look after all businesses but we need to have some kind of a mechanism in place for the smaller shops.